Wildfire in Clear Creek Canyon leads to Highway 6 closure

Highway 6 is closed Wednesday morning as Colorado crews fight a wildfire that's at least 200 acres in rugged terrain in the Clear Creek Canyon area. The section of road that's closed is north of Interstate 70 and west of Golden.

The wildfire is called the Goltra Fire and it started not far from Lookout Mountain on Tuesday soon after a lightning strike. Jefferson County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Jackie Kelley said it appears that strike started the blaze.

Erratic winds picked up overnight in the canyon and pushed the fire across the mountainside where it is burning.

"It started at the top, worked its way down to the road last night," Kelley said. "(Firefighters) actually held it at the road."

The county has requested air resources to help with the firefight. Several dozen firefighters are involved in the firefight so far.

Wildfire smoke could be smelled in areas north and east of the fire, including in Boulder County.

Currently there are no homes or structures near the fire.

"We do a risk assessment on every fire -- we are looking at items of value like watershed, homes, infrastructure, water supply, roadways -- and in this case we don't have any risks. We have land. There are no homes in the way of this fire right now," Kelley said.

The wildfire was given the name Goltra because that's the name of the current or former owner of the private property where some or all of the fire is burning.